I've felt chronically lonely for my whole life. It's so hard to find like-minded people. Common interests are not enough; if I can't feel a deeper connection with someone, I'm unable to keep up with them.

I've never found a group where I could have a sense of belonging. I'm always an outsider, never fully anything, never taken along anywhere — or so it seems.

What I want is a deep and affectionate connection with other people. Could it be possible for once somewhere?

@Stoori I've definitely been there. I have a lot of trouble connecting with people. All my closest friends have always been other people with various mental illnesses because I genuinely just can't relate to the vast majority of people at all. I found most of my friends online because the odds of meeting the right people by chance are so slim.

@cmdrspacebabe Yes, meeting online is the easiest way. Too sad, online friends may live far away, and the physical closeness will be missing.

I'm all the time looking for new groups and communities to get into, but it just feels so frustrating to get disappointed time and again.

@Stoori yeah. ): I've mostly found mine through OkCupid, so they're at least local; but it's still pretty rare to find one I actually get close to and talk to consistently, and I still rarely feel comfortable in group settings unless they have a very specific low-pressure vibe.

@cmdrspacebabe OkCupid, oh dear... I never found anyone from there, BUT then one beautiful person found me there, and now we've been married for a few years. :heart_eyes:

But other than them, I didn't get to connect to other people through OkCupid. And I haven't even used it any more.

@Stoori I've found pretty much all the most important people in my life right now on there :p I've been pretty lucky. these days I have it set to No Straight People, which makes it much more peaceful. even if I never meet people in real life, it's nice to have a low-key way to interact with new people without being drained by it like usually happens irl.